NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 109 



numbers being now increased, and a spirit of inquiry being set on foot, excited a high 

 degree of public interest. The big bones (as they were called) were exposed for show, 

 and persons, from various motives, in great numbers, flocked to behold this heretofore 

 hidden wonder. Having had an agency in prosecuting this inquiry, and of bringing the 

 fossils to light, I wrote to Dr. Mitchill a short account of their magnitude, the place of 

 their discovery, the nature of the earth, &c. &c. which that gentleman, with his learned 

 co-editors of the Medical Repository, thought worthy of a place in that excellent register 

 of discoveries and of science. By a reference to that document the magnitude of the 

 particular parts of the skeleton will be found. It is, however, unnecessary to insert 

 it here, as you have other sources of information, which will lead to a more accurate and 

 general result. 



The nature and formation of this mammoth country, as well as the particular places 

 where those animals were found, may possibly be interesting; and to this object I shall 

 devote a few general remarks. 



The only fossils of this skeleton which have been discovered, have been found in wet 

 and miry lands, in the towns of Montgomery and Shawangunk. The former in Orange, 

 and the latter in Ulster county, in this state : distance about eighty miles from this 

 city, and from six to twelve miles from Newburgh, on the Hudson river. 



In a western direction from the Hudson river, for some five or six miles, the 

 ground rises gradually, but perceptibly, until you come to the confines of Coldenham ; 

 the waters running easterly until you arrive here, now take the contrary direction, and, 

 turning westerly, are disembogued into a considerable stream, known by the name of 

 Wallkill, and sometimes the Palts River. On the highlands at Coldenham you per- 

 ceive a range of high mountains, known by the name of " Shawangunk Mountains," from 

 whence the waters run easterly, and falling into the Wallkill, are carried into the Hud- 

 son river, at the strand, near Kingston, in Ulster county, about one hundred and twelve 

 miles distant from New-York. 



These mountains on the west, and a ridge of highlands on the east, form a natural 

 valley, of very considerable extent, varying in breadth from thirty-five in the southern, 

 to the northern extremity of three miles, or thereabout. The formation and nature of 

 this country has nothing to characterize it from other parts of our state in the middle 

 district : the woods and forest trees, the grasses, and productions of every kind, are those 

 which are indigenous to various parts of the state, and to ail adjacent counties. 



The general formation of this country is smooth, marked by some hills of secondary 

 altitude, is susceptible of yielding every kind of produce cultivated in northern climates. 

 The immense quantities of what is generally termed Goshen butter, is made in this 



